Godox V860 III Flash

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taxboy

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I'm considering purchasing one of these and using the search facility it appears this model is owned by some forumites. Now it's been around a little while has anybody had any issues using theirs - the release reviews all seem positive
 
I’ve got a couple of V1s which is said to be the round headed version of the same flash. Use them on 5diii, 5div, r6, r6ii - no problems. Works great.
 
Works great. Basically same as V1.
 
How quickly do you need the flash to recycle?

If it's fairly slow paced, then the 860 is great and has superb battery life.

But if you need rapid recycling for PR or press shots, then you may be better off with a TT685II (which uses AA batteries) with an extension battery pack.

In terms of speed of recycling, I'm talking two to three shots a second.
 
DemiLion said:
How quickly do you need the flash to recycle?

If it's fairly slow paced, then the 860 is great and has superb battery life.

But if you need rapid recycling for PR or press shots, then you may be better off with a TT685II (which uses AA batteries) with an extension battery pack.

In terms of speed of recycling, I'm talking two to three shots a second.
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Good point especially if you’re shooting 1/4 power or higher. At 1/8 maybe the pack is slightly better. 1/16 or below I don’t think there’s much advantage with the external pack.
 
DemiLion said:
How quickly do you need the flash to recycle?

If it's fairly slow paced, then the 860 is great and has superb battery life.

But if you need rapid recycling for PR or press shots, then you may be better off with a TT685II (which uses AA batteries) with an extension battery pack.

In terms of speed of recycling, I'm talking two to three shots a second.
Click to expand...
That’s just reminded me that I have an external pack and I’ve never connected it to my TT685
And I have occasions it’d come in handy
 
DemiLion said:
How quickly do you need the flash to recycle?

If it's fairly slow paced, then the 860 is great and has superb battery life.

But if you need rapid recycling for PR or press shots, then you may be better off with a TT685II (which uses AA batteries) with an extension battery pack.

In terms of speed of recycling, I'm talking two to three shots a second.
Click to expand...
I don't need incredibly fast recycling but helpful information thanks
 
DemiLion said:
How quickly do you need the flash to recycle?

If it's fairly slow paced, then the 860 is great and has superb battery life.

But if you need rapid recycling for PR or press shots, then you may be better off with a TT685II (which uses AA batteries) with an extension battery pack.

In terms of speed of recycling, I'm talking two to three shots a second.
Click to expand...
I didn't know about the battery packs - do you (or anyone else) know if there are any others besides the Godox PB960, ideally that also take AA batteries ?
I used to have a AA power pack for a Canon (I think) about 20 years ago and it was so amazingly useful when needing rapid recycling.
Not sure if it's relevant but I use a Fuji camera.

As for the OP's question, my 860ii has been faultless over the 2/3 years I've had it, not used my Nissin i60a since I got it but actually may sell both and get a TT685ii and battery pack especially if I can find one that takes AA's .
 
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stevewestern said:
I didn't know about the battery packs - do you (or anyone else) know if there are any others besides the Godox PB960, ideally that also take AA batteries ?
I used to have a AA power pack for a Canon (I think) about 20 years ago and it was so amazingly useful when needing rapid recycling.
Not sure if it's relevant but I use a Fuji camera.

As for the OP's question, my 860ii has been faultless over the 2/3 years I've had it, not used my Nissin i60a since I got it but actually may sell both and get a TT685ii and battery pack especially if I can find one that takes AA's .
Click to expand...
they exist, but will likely be slower and after a quick search don't look much cheaper.
 
TimHughes said:
they exist, but will likely be slower and after a quick search don't look much cheaper.
Click to expand...
I've been looking too, and it seems that a Sony cable for the PB960 fits the Nissin i60a, so I might try this before selling either - I'm not a big flash user so worry about yet another battery that needs to be recharged regularly (I've got so many for power tools, heated gloves and jacket for motorbike use, camera's etc)
Thanks for your help Tim!
 
stevewestern said:
I didn't know about the battery packs - do you (or anyone else) know if there are any others besides the Godox PB960, ideally that also take AA batteries ?
I used to have a AA power pack for a Canon (I think) about 20 years ago and it was so amazingly useful when needing rapid recycling.
Not sure if it's relevant but I use a Fuji camera.

As for the OP's question, my 860ii has been faultless over the 2/3 years I've had it, not used my Nissin i60a since I got it but actually may sell both and get a TT685ii and battery pack especially if I can find one that takes AA's .
Click to expand...
I think the TT685’s of all flavours take the old Canon type external battery pack (like you used to have) and they’re about £60
But I’ll bet they turn up regularly on EBay

Here y go
 
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Phil V said:
I think the TT685’s of all flavours take the old Canon type external battery pack (like you used to have) and they’re about £60
But I’ll bet they turn up regularly on EBay
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The Fuji fit version of the TT685 definitely takes the same fitting as the C version.

And the battery pack being talked about is the CP-E4
 
I've been using the JJC battery packs with my Godox speedlights for over 4 years now. Each holds 8 AA cells and I use the Tenergy AA cells both in my speedlites and the extenders. I can shoot for hours using this setup, and the flash recovery when using the extenders is much better than without the extender, though I have never timed it. When plugged into the speedlite, a red LED on the top corner lets you know that it's connected, and it will turn on and off with the speedlite power switch. I have had these attached to my belt, to the bottom of the camera, and to the light stand, by using one of the small Magic? clamps to the light stand shank or tripod leg. A 1/4-20 threaded bolt through the case that is also a nut in the middle of the knob lets you easily stack one of these between your camera and tripod or to one of these other attachment methods. The fabric case that it comes in has a belt loop for placing on your belt, and the coiled cord between this battery pack and speedlite is plenty long enough for any of these mounting points. They seem to be a universal design, because the coiled cord and speedlite connector can be unplugged from the battery pack. I think they offer this same battery pack with different coiled cords and speedlite connectors to allow using them with different brands and models of speedlites. I only have Godox, so this is just an assumption, but it's handy that the cords can be removed, and I do this frequently when packing them, cords in one place and extenders in another.

Charley
 
CharleyL said:
I've been using the JJC battery packs with my Godox speedlights for over 4 years now. Each holds 8 AA cells and I use the Tenergy AA cells both in my speedlites and the extenders. I can shoot for hours using this setup, and the flash recovery when using the extenders is much better than without the extender, though I have never timed it. When plugged into the speedlite, a red LED on the top corner lets you know that it's connected, and it will turn on and off with the speedlite power switch. I have had these attached to my belt, to the bottom of the camera, and to the light stand, by using one of the small Magic? clamps to the light stand shank or tripod leg. A 1/4-20 threaded bolt through the case that is also a nut in the middle of the knob lets you easily stack one of these between your camera and tripod or to one of these other attachment methods. The fabric case that it comes in has a belt loop for placing on your belt, and the coiled cord between this battery pack and speedlite is plenty long enough for any of these mounting points. They seem to be a universal design, because the coiled cord and speedlite connector can be unplugged from the battery pack. I think they offer this same battery pack with different coiled cords and speedlite connectors to allow using them with different brands and models of speedlites. I only have Godox, so this is just an assumption, but it's handy that the cords can be removed, and I do this frequently when packing them, cords in one place and extenders in another.

Charley
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That's very interesting and thanks for the detailed post. I'll wait to see what happens with my ebay bid but will look into the jjc ones which I'd not heard of before.
I've also not heard of Tenergy batteries - are they in your opinion better than eneloop's which seem popular?
 
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stevewestern said:
That's very interesting and thanks for the detailed post. I'll wait to see what happens with my ebay bid but will look into the jjc ones which I'd not heard of before.
I've also not heard of Tenergy batteries - are they in your opinion better than eneloop's which seem popular?
Click to expand...
All those (most) battery packs are clones of the Canon pack, and much of a muchness. Just an 8 pack of batteries that give a power boost for recycling and enhanced battery life.
 
" That's very interesting and thanks for the detailed post. I'll wait to see what happens with my ebay bid but will look into the jjc ones which I'd not heard of before.
I've also not heard of Tenergy batteries - are they in your opinion better than eneloop's which seem popular?"

While I don't do careful measured comparison tests, I was buying the Eneloop batteries until a friend told me about the Tenergy. I bought some and tried them. They did seem to last about 1/3 longer, so I've been buying the Tenergy AA cells ever since (about 4 1/2 years ago). I bought them and the JJC extension packs through Amazon about 5 years ago. At the time I was using five Godox TT600 and five of these battery extender packs with the Tenergy AA cells for my field kit. Their coiled cord plugs into the TT600 just below the red lens on the face side of the body. There is a removeable plug that covers the 3 pin connecter. I could shoot about 5 hours before changing the cells, but then I am not a rapid fire kind of shooter. Adding these battery packs to the TT600 speedlites made a huge difference in the recycle rate of the flashes. They were ready again in about 1/3 of the time that it took to get the TT600 ready for the next shot without them. Today, my field kit has AD200 Pro II flashes and the special spare batteries for them. Two of my TT600 and the JJC battery extenders were given to my adult grand daughter, an up and coming photographer who was given one of my older cameras, a Canon T7 a few years ago to see if I could get her interested. According to her mom, I created a "picture taking monster" with that gift, so I have been giving her my lesser used photography gear as she learns and grows her knowledge. She is a Florist, has her own florist business, and is taking shots of her flower arrangements to add to her website, as well as shots of everything else in her life.

I just did a quick look on Amazon for the JJC battery extenders that I bought and did not find them. I'll search more later and if I find anything I'll add the link here.

Charley
 
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CharleyL said:
" That's very interesting and thanks for the detailed post. I'll wait to see what happens with my ebay bid but will look into the jjc ones which I'd not heard of before.
I've also not heard of Tenergy batteries - are they in your opinion better than eneloop's which seem popular?"

While I don't do careful measured comparison tests, I was buying the Eneloop batteries until a friend told me about the Tenergy. I bought some and tried them. They did seem to last about 1/3 longer, so I've been buying the Tenergy AA cells ever since (about 4 1/2 years ago). I bought them and the JJC extension packs through Amazon about 5 years ago. At the time I was using five Godox TT600 and five of these battery extender packs with the Tenergy AA cells for my field kit. Their coiled cord plugs into the TT600 just below the red lens on the face side of the body. There is a removeable plug that covers the 3 pin connecter. I could shoot about 5 hours before changing the cells, but then I am not a rapid fire kind of shooter. Adding these battery packs to the TT600 speedlites made a huge difference in the recycle rate of the flashes. They were ready again in about 1/3 of the time that it took to get the TT600 ready for the next shot without them. Today, my field kit has AD200 Pro II flashes and the special spare batteries for them. Two of my TT600 and the JJC battery extenders were given to my adult grand daughter, an up and coming photographer who was given one of my older cameras, a Canon T7 a few years ago to see if I could get her interested. According to her mom, I created a "picture taking monster" with that gift, so I have been giving her my lesser used photography gear as she learns and grows her knowledge. She is a Florist, has her own florist business, and is taking shots of her flower arrangements to add to her website, as well as shots of everything else in her life.

I just did a quick look on Amazon for the JJC battery extenders that I bought and did not find them. I'll search more later and if I find anything I'll add the link here.

Charley
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Hi Charly,
Again, thanks for your reply and help.
I had a look for the JJC power pack too, but have now won the one I was bidding for on ebay so now all I need to do is wait for it and the TT685 I bought from mpb to arrive.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me on this thread - in true TP form you've all been helpful and educational!
Just hope that @taxboy has got as much from it!
 
I'm glad that you found one. Let us know how well it works for you. They certainly improved the recovery and use time of my speedlites.

I don't understand why they aren't available anymore, except others like me, have likely moved on to AD200 Pro II lights and don't use the speedlites much any more. The AD200 lights have been a significant improvement over the TT600 lights in my field kit, and I'm even starting to use them frequently in the studio when a smaller light than my usual studio lights are needed. I'll likely never get rid of all of my speedlites because there are times when small lights are necessary. One of them and battery extender have always been in my backpack with my camera, The AD200 don't fit.

Remember that I still have some of these, and some time in the future I may decide to let them go along with some or all of the TT600's. This won't likely be soon, but maybe next year.

Charley
 
Coming back to this to note that Canon has given me an EL1 for an event, and it's good; it's keeping pace with high-speed shooting with no missed frames. But it is pricey!
 
TimHughes said:
Coming back to this to note that Canon has given me an EL1 for an event, and it's good; it's keeping pace with high-speed shooting with no missed frames. But it is pricey!
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It’s not ‘pricey’. It’s literally scandalous.
The same price as a s/h R6 and decent Godox speedlight.
 
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